Come on, Evans
by followingthespiders
Summary: *ONE SHOT* "Dance with me, Evans." The idea was ridiculous, preposterous, even, yet so incredibly brilliant in the mind of a 16 year old boy.


**A/N: Hi hi! First one shot that I want to share on here, I wrote this up for a roleplay so I figured I'd post it here. Reviews please? Gracias!**

**disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.**

The thick summer air hung heavy with smoke and the last goodbyes before the end of their fifth year. Remus had finally brought up the courage to speak to Doe about the weather, Peter was in the boys room, unable to trust his bladder not to explode around the many girls at the party, leaving James and Sirius leaning against the large pillars in the courtyard with cups of firewhiskey. While Sirius picked up on a conversation with the one and only Emmeline Vance, James's eyes lingered towards the redhead waving sadly at the two girls who he recognized as Mary Macdonald and Marlene McKinnon trudging along the other direction. James rolled his eyes at the two girls already leaving, seeing as though the final goodbye party wasn't due to end until a few hours, but kept his eyes on Lily in the distance. As Emmeline and Sirius departed to his dormitory, James desperately glanced around for someone else to occupy his time with. After the incident with Severus, they hadn't uttered a single word to each other. He had tried everything to get her attention with; the complex tricks during quidditch games, answering more questions during class, being found pouring himself into books at the library or anything to even get a small glimpse from her. James never knew one person could affect him so much just by not saying a single word.

As the sun began to set in the horizon and the fireflies revealed themselves from the shadows, James took a deep breath, his foot tapping against the stone ground anxiously. "Alright, Evans?" he called over to her, running his free hand through his hair. Her head quickly snapped up and a scowl grew on her face as she saw it was him. Suspecting a reaction as so, James ignored it and continued walking towards her before stopping at her feet. "Where are your friends?" he asked, merely curious. As the weighty silence fell between them, James bit the inside of his his cheek and tapped his foot once more, looking around at the grounds for even the slightest conversation starter. He winced as the only memorable area in sight was the tree where he had hung Snape upside down and had defended Lily…for no good reason, too, considering she still refused to talk to him. He felt more and more of an oaf, just standing there in front of her without a word to say, so he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet. "Dance with me, Evans." The idea was ridiculous, preposterous, even, yet so incredibly brilliant in the mind of a 16 year old boy.

"Excuse me?" Even with the disbelief in her voice, James couldn't help but feel his stomach do a flip when she spoke. James shrugged, pulling his hand out of his pocket to ruffle his hair. "Is that a yes? Come on, Evans. Dance with me." he insisted, his feet crunching against the hard rubble as he walked towards the middle of the courtyard. He turned around only to see Lily still sitting there, doubtful. "There are dungbombs in your pocket, aren't there?" James laughed and spread his arms out to show the bulge free pockets of his robes. "McGonagall took them all from me."

"And that snitch you carry around?"

"Hidden neatly somewhere in my dormitory."

"And those chocolate frogs you enchanted in Charms last week to bite Darius Abercrombie's nose?"

"So I see you've noticed my latest shenanigans."

James smirked, satisfied as Lily had no witty remark but merely stalked over towards him and crossed her arms, sticking her nose up high in the air. Before she could even begin to protest, James slid his hand on her waist and pulled her closer, grabbing her hand and placed it in his. "There isn't any music," Lily said stubbornly after a few aimless sways back and forth. James looked down at her, an amused expression on his face. "You don't need music to dance." he answered simply, beckoning towards the faint buzzing of the evening bugs making an appearance on the other side. Listening intently to the buzz, James hummed along, making up a beat as he went along.

As the fireflies grew brighter, he watched Lily closer in even the smallest sense of happiness. She had been gazing at the lightning bugs with delight, and turned to James with a broad smile on her face. In those few moments, the world felt as though it stood still and nothing mattered. Not the bugs inching their way closer to James's leg, not the whispers from what seemed to be Doe and Remus watching them, but only Lily. The way the glow from the firefly's light brought out the light specks of green in her eyes, the bounce in her wavy red hair as he twirled her around, the way her smile gave James a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had grown to be familiar with for so many years.

James licked his lips absently, his heart racing. She was so close and the kiss that he had wanted from her for over four years then was only inches away. Could he do it? Was it even a possibility? He didn't take time to over analyze it and slowly, so slowly, leaned down to kiss Lily's cheek before she instantly pulled away from his grasp. Her cheeks matched the exact shade of her hair. "Potter, I-I'm sor- I really need to-to pack, we're leaving tomorrow and I still have my books out all over the p-place and-and I think I'm going to see John before I leave." she whispered all at once, grabbing her cardigan from the bench across from them, flustered. With one last sorrowful look goodbye, Lily threw her shoes off, clutched them in her hands, and hurried off back into the school, leaving him staring at the entrance door where she had entered through. James aimed a swift kick at the gravel, infuriated with himself for letting her slip through his fingers yet again.


End file.
